By default, when you configure your computer for networking, hidden shares are created for your local disk drives. You can access the hidden shares by appending a “$” to the share name. For example, you can access the root of your c drive by typing \\computername\c$.

In order to disable the automatic sharing of your local drives, you must edit the Windows registry. Before you proceed with the steps below, be sure to perform a backup of your computer.

  1. Click Start and click Run.
  2. Type regedit and click OK.
  3. Locate the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters.
  4. Click Edit, point to New, and select DWORD Value.
  5. Type in AutoShareWks and press Enter.
  6. Double click the new DWORD value. Verify that the value is 0.
  7. Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer.

[tags]microsoft,regedit,diana huggins,share name,sharing local drives,c$[/tags]